


Fighting Talk

by CloudAtlas



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Community: be_compromised, Gen, Hazing, Natasha is better than anyone you throw at her, Recruitment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-28
Updated: 2013-09-28
Packaged: 2017-12-27 21:34:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/983871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudAtlas/pseuds/CloudAtlas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint started it, but it became tradition thanks to Coulson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fighting Talk

**Author's Note:**

> This was a responce to many people online being annoyed at Agents of SHIELD for belittling Natasha's abilities to make their own team look better. So I gave them a reason. Also written for [ATTF: Drabble Me](http://be-compromised.livejournal.com/333630.html) over at be_compromised.
> 
> But just so you know, I hadn't yet seen Agents of SHIELD when I wrote this.

In was, in fact, something Clint had started, and the first victim - Agent Melinda May - was now part of Coulson's team, as well as being in on the joke. Coulson had just liked it enough to carry it on.  
  
It happened while Clint was suspended from active duty for bringing the Black Widow back alive, rather than killing her. He was overseeing some new recruits doing higher level combat training, and when Agent May had taken down Agent Spalding in record time, Clint had glanced over at Coulson and said, just loud enough to be heard; “Huh, that’s Romanov standards, that is.”  
  
Coulson was just about to open his mouth to say something to the effect of ‘are you kidding? Romanov standard is light years ahead of that, however good it was’ when Clint widened his eyes slightly in a clear ‘shut up you idiot’ way.  
  
Coulson swallowed his words just in time to catch the _very_ pleased look on Agent May’s face.  
  
Even then, everyone had heard of Agent Romanov in the New York office. And everyone knew she was _good_.  
  
A few weeks later, Agent May was thrown down unceremoniously by Agent Romanov in a demonstration of even _higher_ level combat skills. To be fair to Agent May, she took the minor humiliation well, and went on to become one of the best close quarter combat agents SHIELD had. After Romanov, obviously.  
  
Agent Melinda May didn’t much care for Agent Barton though.  
  
Since then it had become something of a tradition, and Agent May became particularly adept at singling out the best ‘candidates’. They were always people who could take it, always people SHIELD thought capable of _actually_ becoming an agent and always people who needed knocking down a peg or two. Not that that caveat had applied to Agent May - she was just blind luck - but that was the part Natasha _loved_ , especially if they were smug, six foot men.  
  
Clint hadn’t met this year’s chosen recruit yet. He’d been on enforced downtime, having therapy and psych eval after psych eval until he was pretty sure his therapist knew more about his life than he ever had. This was his first time back at the New York base since… well, everything. New York and the Mandarin and the Winter Soldier and that alien SNAFU in London and, despite everything, Clint was looking forward to seeing his so-called team – even Tony. (Natasha he’d seen as often as she could manage, which wasn’t enough really but they held each other tighter now, and their kisses seemed to mean more).  
  
But he hadn’t forgotten SHIELD’s new recruit tradition, so before stopping by Stark Tower, he went to see this year’s chosen rookie.  
  
Agent Clint Barton met Agent Grant Ward in the New York base’s common room, and as they shook hands, the only think Clint could think was; _oh yes, Natasha is going to_ love _beating the crap out of you._

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [All Fun and Games until Someone Gets Hurt](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1175972) by [LokiOfSassgaard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LokiOfSassgaard/pseuds/LokiOfSassgaard)




End file.
